Customer

NVIDIA corporation, the visual computing pioneering company for worldwide technology, the GPU (graphics processing units) leading provider, manufactures a comprehensive range of products within numerous platforms, high-load technologies and processors, combining the development process with an in-depth research, as well as partner and investment networking.

Problem

Pushing the Envelope of Mobile Photography

Conceived to deliver unparalleled end-user experience demonstrating a brand-new approach to mobile image-taking, this powerful technology pushes the envelope of mobile photography with a host of next generation tools and features.

Facilitating Technology Adoption

To aid device manufacturers in adopting the innovative technology, NVIDIA required a special app that would realize low-level communication between the processor, the device, and high-level interaction with the end-user.

As a long-term software engineering service provider to NVIDIA, Softeq has earned a reputation of a reliable development partner. With strong roots both in the mobile app development space and low-level programming, drawing on years of experience of working together with some of the established electronic device and component manufacturers, Softeq was an ideal candidate to be engaged in this project.

Facing a Tough Deadline

The team faced a tough deadline of delivering the app within snap 6 months. Besides, there were also several significant technical constraints to be addressed:

Working with disparate APIs, some of them incomplete as they were still under development

Absence of real devices to test-drive the app (the team had to work with special development boards which simulated device behavior)

iOS-like behavior of the app running on the Android OS (as requested by the customer)

Overall app sophistication given the number of complex technical and functional capabilities to be implemented

Solution

Functional Features

Softeq’s team implemented from scratch an advanced, highly-interactive camera application that leverages the power of the Tegra 4 processor.

Innovative distinctive features of the application include:

Always-on high-dynamic range (HDR) photos and videos – imaging and photography with a greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas of an image compared to standard digital imaging

Persistent tap-to-track technology — allows the user to touch the image of a person or object to focus on within a scene. The camera then locks in on that subject whether it moves or the camera is repositioned to a better angle, while maintaining proper focus. It also adjusts the camera exposure depending on any movement, helping avoid under- or over-exposure of the image's subject or background

Individual functions for setting autofocus and autoexposure

Photo camera modes

Base mode

“Big button” mode (user taps any place on the screen to take a picture)

Burst mode (slow, negative shutter lag burst, hi-speed hi-res)

Interval mode

Timer mode

Video camera modes

Standard video mode

Video with buffer — once the mode is on, the camera starts immediately recording the scene. Once the user stops recording, the app performs automatic cut of the recording with a 5 sec buffer added to the main video.

Photo editing and sharing

Framing, cropping, transforming and texturizing

Selective edit — after applying a filter the user can gradually remove it by swiping a finger or using stylus with the original picture showing through